Earring - Adornment

Exactly what inspired me I am not sure this week but I came across Girl With A Pearl Earring - Johannes Vermeer. 



I got curious about other paintings of people where the story was about the earring.  So I went looking for specifically the word Earring in the title of the work and surprised myself with the number I found in just a short time. 

Vermeer's painting has had several names over the years, Girl In A Turban, Young Girl In  A Turban, Portrait of A Young Girl and a few other. The earring in the painting has even been accused of being a fake. It also makes an appearance in at least 9 other Vermeer Paintings.  But that is all just whispers that increase the mystery and not why I am here today. 

Voltaire said "The ear is the avenue to the heart."  
Jennifer Lopez loves to adorn the avenue. 
This week enjoy .... Earring -  Adornment. 

Hookah Are Youuu?

Last night we, a few girlfriends and some artist friends went to an event. Henna

and Hookah.

We had wine,

mojitos, food, henna and hookah.

We ate, drank, painted with henna and shared some shisha.

A hookah is a single or multi stemmed instrument for vaporizing and smoking tobacco.

The smoke passes through water in a glass bowl

before inhalation.

In Egypt it is known as a Shisha which translates to glass. In other parts of the Middle East hookah is called argila, hoqqa, nargile, nafas and several other words.

Shahs in Persia and Sultans had staff members whose only duty was to attend to the hookah. The wealthier the person the more elaborate and decorated their hookah was.

This week enjoy Hookah Are Youuu? 

Saguaro

On our escape from Hades we traveled by signs proclaiming we were entering the Saguaro National Park. We had stopped and examined a few while driving through the Yuma Proving Grounds. 

It is a forest of Saguaros. 

According to a dictionary a forest is: a think cluster of vertical objects 

Well.. that about covered it. There were vertical objects all over with undergrowth, plants  and other  vegetation. A forest. 

Saguaros are found exclusively in the Sonora Desert. We did not see them in Nevada, New Mexico, or Texas.  The older they grow the more likely they are to grow arms. But some never do and though these arms tend to grow upward some grow sideways and wrap themselves around the main trunk. They have protective spines, 
            

bloom with white flowers in the spring and produce fruit
that is a glorious red and is edible by humans.

                                   
                                        Maricopa women gathering saguaro fruits, photo by Edward S. Curtis

Saguaros can live as long as 200 years. They are slow growing. A 15 year old Saguaro may only be 2 inches tall but they can grow as tall as 40 to 60 feet in height. During a good rainy season they can weigh from 3200 to 4800 pounds. 

This week enjoy Saguaro. 

Independence Declaration

On July 4th America celebrates Independence Day.  
                         
The day the Declaration was adopted by Congress.  The final copy, after several passages were changed, deleted, and adapted was again presented to Congress on August 2. Most  of the signatures were signed on that day. 5 signed at a later date and 2 members of the Congress did not sign at all. 
                                             
There are 56 signatures on the Declaration. 8 of those signers were born in Great Britain. 

One man who signed recanted after months of imprisonment, torture and mistreatment by the British. After he regained his freedom he swore an oath of Allegiance once again. 

The oldest signer was 70
                                             Benjamin Franklin by Joseph Duplessis  

and the youngest was 26. 

             Edward Rutledge - unknown

During World War II  the Declaration was secured at Fort Knox. 

Remember in the movie "National Treasure" Nicholas Cage's character claims there is something written on the back of the Declaration? There is. 

                                 

This week enjoy Independence Declaration!